In today's global economy, a
workforce trained in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) is
recognized as a primary driver of growth. Around the world, STEM education initiatives
vary in scope, size, type, target populations and funding sources. What’s
missing is a unified global mechanism for STEM education.

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Creating a Global STEM Fund would
help support and implement effective and innovative STEM programs in developing
countries. The NGO Cosmos Education, the
STEM Innovation Camp in South Africa, the African Institute for Mathematical
Sciences and the Bunengi STEM Africa are but a few examples of organizations
and programs that could benefit.

The new fund would aim to improve the
accessibility and quality of STEM education, particularly in the developing
world, where the number of STEM programs is likely to increase in future years.
To be successful, they will need support — and that means not just funding, but
also knowledge about best practices.

Is a fund needed?

Why create a STEM fund and what
activities should it support?

Despite recent progress, many parts
of the developing world still face shortages of highly trained scientists and
engineers. According to the UNESCO science report 2010, African
countries had an average of 164 researchers per million people in 2007, more
than six times lower than the world average of 1,081 researchers per million.

Poor funding limits universities'
ability to set up and maintain well-equipped laboratories; offer high enough
salaries to attract science lecturers; and sponsor a greater number of
low-income students interested in science and engineering subjects.

The fund we propose would unify
existing national and international funding. And it would need initial
investment from governments, firms, NGOs and academic institutions.

Private sector backing will be critical — for financial
and infrastructure support, the fund would need to work with organizations such
as the Global Business Coalition for Education.

Quality and accessibility

But increasing the number of trained
scientists and engineers isn't purely a matter of money. In Africa, for
example, the general sentiment is that the problems are systemic and include
poor accessibility and quality of science education. The UNESCO report also
paints a similar picture for many developing countries in Latin America and the
Arab world.

The lack of good quality, centralized data on existing
STEM programs worldwide is also problematic. The data that do exist are patchy
and do not capture indicators such as the types of educational strategies being
used, collaborations with industry and universities or how STEM programs affect
students in the long term.